1.   The jump follows a big increase in bad debts reported last week by the private banking operations of Lloyds Bank.

2.   Also present was Eugene A. Ludwig, the U.S. comptroller of the currency, whose job is to oversee banking operations.

3.   Among the changes Spitzer has proposed is a strict division between the research and investment banking operations of Wall Street firms.

4.   Analysts and competitors said that the deal demonstrated the difficulty of building an investment banking operation from scratch.

5.   And it recently reshuffled management, including putting consumer banking operations under top BayBanks executives.

6.   Bank Austria has said that it will allow Creditanstalt to operate its domestic activities unhindered, though the investment banking operations, its most lucrative, will be merged.

7.   BCN has commercial and investment banking operations and is active in financing trade.

8.   Banking analysts said the partnership will allow SBC to upgrade its own technology services, an increasingly important and costly part of banking operations.

9.   Before joining the firm, he led the investment and merchant banking operations for Prudential Securities.